1972 California Angels season
Major League Baseball season
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 1972 California Angels season was the 12th season of the Angels franchise in the American League, the 7th in Anaheim, and their 7th season playing their home games at Anaheim Stadium. The Angels finished the season fifth in the American League West with a record of 75 wins and 80 losses.
| 1972 California Angels | |
|---|---|
| League | American League |
| Division | West |
| Ballpark | Anaheim Stadium |
| City | Anaheim, California |
| Owners | Gene Autry |
| General managers | Harry Dalton |
| Managers | Del Rice |
| Television | KTLA |
| Radio | KMPC (Dick Enberg, Don Wells, Dave Niehaus) |
Offseason
- October 27, 1971: Tony González was released by the Angels.[1]
- December 10, 1971: Jim Fregosi was traded by the Angels to the New York Mets for Nolan Ryan, Don Rose, Leroy Stanton, and Frank Estrada.[2]
- January 26, 1972: Tommie Reynolds was traded by the Angels to the Milwaukee Brewers for Andy Kosco.[3]
Regular season
- April 18, 1972: Nolan Ryan struck out Charlie Manuel for the 500th strikeout of his career.[4]
Opening Day starters
Season standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oakland Athletics | 93 | 62 | .600 | — | 48–29 | 45–33 |
| Chicago White Sox | 87 | 67 | .565 | 5½ | 55–23 | 32–44 |
| Minnesota Twins | 77 | 77 | .500 | 15½ | 42–32 | 35–45 |
| Kansas City Royals | 76 | 78 | .494 | 16½ | 44–33 | 32–45 |
| California Angels | 75 | 80 | .484 | 18 | 44–36 | 31–44 |
| Texas Rangers | 54 | 100 | .351 | 38½ | 31–46 | 23–54 |
Record vs. opponents
Sources: | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIL | MIN | NYY | OAK | TEX | |
| Baltimore | — | 7–11 | 6–6 | 8–4 | 8–10 | 10–8 | 6–6 | 10–5 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 6–6 | 6–6 | |
| Boston | 11–7 | — | 8–4 | 6–6 | 8–7 | 5–9 | 6–6 | 11–7 | 4–8 | 9–9 | 9–3 | 8–4 | |
| California | 6–6 | 4–8 | — | 7–11 | 8–4 | 5–7 | 9–6 | 7–5 | 7–8 | 4–8 | 8–10 | 10–7 | |
| Chicago | 4–8 | 6–6 | 11–7 | — | 8–4 | 5–7 | 8–9 | 9–3 | 8–6 | 7–5 | 7–8 | 14–4 | |
| Cleveland | 10–8 | 7–8 | 4–8 | 4–8 | — | 10–8 | 6–6 | 5–10 | 8–4 | 7–11 | 2–10 | 9–3 | |
| Detroit | 8–10 | 9–5 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 8–10 | — | 7–5 | 10–8 | 9–3 | 7–9 | 4–8 | 10–2 | |
| Kansas City | 6–6 | 6–6 | 6–9 | 9–8 | 6–6 | 5–7 | — | 7–5 | 9–9 | 7–5 | 7–11 | 8–6 | |
| Milwaukee | 5–10 | 7–11 | 5–7 | 3–9 | 10–5 | 8–10 | 5–7 | — | 4–8 | 9–9 | 4–8 | 5–7 | |
| Minnesota | 6–6 | 8–4 | 8–7 | 6–8 | 4–8 | 3–9 | 9–9 | 8–4 | — | 6–6 | 8–9 | 11–7 | |
| New York | 6–7 | 9–9 | 8–4 | 5–7 | 11–7 | 9–7 | 5–7 | 9–9 | 6–6 | — | 3–9 | 8–4 | |
| Oakland | 6–6 | 3–9 | 10–8 | 8–7 | 10–2 | 8–4 | 11–7 | 8–4 | 9–8 | 9–3 | — | 11–4 | |
| Texas | 6–6 | 4–8 | 7–10 | 4–14 | 3–9 | 2–10 | 6–8 | 7–5 | 7–11 | 4–8 | 4–11 | — | |
Notable transactions
- May 2, 1972: Billy Cowan was released by the Angels.[6]
- May 16, 1972: Steve Barber was signed as a free agent by the Angels.[7]
- May 26, 1972: Archie Reynolds was traded by the Angels to the Milwaukee Brewers for Curt Motton.[8]
- July 28, 1972: Joe Azcue and Syd O'Brien were traded by the Angels to the Milwaukee Brewers for Ron Clark and Paul Ratliff.[9]
- August 1, 1972: Fred Kuhaulua was signed as an amateur free agent by the Angels.[10]
- August 15, 1972: Andy Kosco was traded by the Angels to the Boston Red Sox for Chris Coletta.[3]
- August 17, 1972: Eddie Fisher was traded by the California Angels to the Chicago White Sox for a player to be named later and Bruce Miller. The Chicago White Sox sent Bruce Kimm (September 1, 1972) to the California Angels to complete the trade.[11]
Roster
| 1972 California Angels | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
|
Catchers
Infielders
|
Outfielders
Other batters
|
Manager
Coaches
| ||||||
Player stats
Batting
Starters by position
Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Pos | Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | Art Kusnyer | 64 | 179 | 37 | .207 | 2 | 13 |
| 1B | Bob Oliver | 134 | 509 | 137 | .269 | 19 | 70 |
| 2B | Sandy Alomar Sr. | 155 | 610 | 146 | .239 | 1 | 25 |
| 3B | Ken McMullen | 137 | 472 | 127 | .269 | 9 | 34 |
| SS | Leo Cárdenas | 150 | 551 | 123 | .223 | 6 | 42 |
| LF | Vada Pinson | 136 | 484 | 133 | .275 | 7 | 49 |
| CF | Ken Berry | 119 | 409 | 118 | .289 | 5 | 39 |
| RF | Leroy Stanton | 127 | 402 | 101 | .251 | 12 | 39 |
Other batters
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jim Spencer | 82 | 212 | 47 | .222 | 1 | 14 |
| Mickey Rivers | 58 | 159 | 34 | .214 | 0 | 7 |
| Jeff Torborg | 59 | 153 | 32 | .209 | 0 | 8 |
| John Stephenson | 66 | 146 | 40 | .274 | 2 | 17 |
| Andy Kosco | 49 | 142 | 34 | .239 | 6 | 13 |
| Billy Parker | 36 | 80 | 17 | .213 | 2 | 8 |
| Winston Llenas | 44 | 64 | 17 | .266 | 0 | 7 |
| Jack Hiatt | 22 | 45 | 13 | .289 | 1 | 5 |
| Syd O'Brien | 36 | 39 | 7 | .179 | 1 | 1 |
| Curt Motton | 42 | 39 | 6 | .154 | 0 | 1 |
| Doug Howard | 11 | 38 | 10 | .263 | 0 | 2 |
| Chris Coletta | 14 | 30 | 9 | .300 | 1 | 7 |
| Tom Silverio | 13 | 12 | 2 | .167 | 0 | 0 |
| Roger Repoz | 3 | 3 | 1 | .333 | 0 | 0 |
| Billy Cowan | 3 | 3 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Joe Azcue | 3 | 2 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
Pitching
| = Indicates league leader |
Starting pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nolan Ryan | 39 | 284.0 | 19 | 16 | 2.28 | 329 |
| Clyde Wright | 35 | 251.0 | 18 | 11 | 2.98 | 87 |
| Rudy May | 35 | 205.1 | 12 | 11 | 2.94 | 169 |
| Andy Messersmith | 25 | 169.2 | 8 | 11 | 2.81 | 142 |
Other pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rickey Clark | 26 | 109.2 | 4 | 9 | 4.51 | 61 |
| Don Rose | 16 | 42.2 | 1 | 4 | 4.22 | 39 |
| Dick Lange | 2 | 7.2 | 0 | 0 | 4.70 | 8 |
Relief pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lloyd Allen | 42 | 3 | 7 | 5 | 3.48 | 53 |
| Eddie Fisher | 43 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3.76 | 32 |
| Steve Barber | 34 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2.02 | 34 |
| Mel Queen | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.35 | 19 |
| Dave Sells | 10 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2.81 | 2 |
| Alan Foster | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4.97 | 11 |
| Tom Dukes | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1.64 | 8 |
| Tom Murphy | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.40 | 2 |
| Paul Doyle | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 4 |